Empire State Manufacturing Slows at Worrying Rate

Published By : 18 Feb 2015 |Published By : QYRESEARCH

Business conditions in New York are still moderately expansive this month, according to the report the Federal Reserve Bank of New York published on Tuesday, but the manufacturers from the area are very cautious about the future.

The Wall Street Journal surveyed a few economists who expected the index to undergo minimal change and go up to at 10.0. Any reading above zero means expansion.

The business conditions index of Empire State stooped as low as 7.78 in February 2015 from 9.95 in the previous month. The index has been on a steady decline since September.

The readings suggest that business conditions for manufacturers in New York have improved modestly for the second month running, according to the report.

The index for general business conditions expectations for the next six months fell to a worrying 25.58 in February from a promising reading of 48.35 in January - the highest observed in three years. The February reading, in stark contrast, is the lowest seen in more than two years, according to the report.

New orders expectations dropped to 28.61 this month from 41.44 in January and the employee expectations index also fell to 24.72 from a multi-year high of 31.58 last month.

The subindexes in New York Fed, however, were mixed in February. The new orders index fell to 1.22 from 6.09 the previous month, indicating flatline for new demand. The shipments index, on the other hand, rose to 14.12 from 9.59 in January.

The employment index declined to 10.11 from 13.68 last month, while the workweek index still remains in negative territory, although it made a massive leap to -1.12 from -8.42 in January.

Very few area manufacturers are expected to raise selling prices this month. The prices-received index fell to 3.37 this month from 12.63. The prices-paid index crept up to 14.61 in February from 12.63 in January.